Formato Powers Bronxville to Class C Championship

John Moriello
14 hours ago
2 min read

SYRACUSE – Senior Brian Formato scored four touchdowns as Bronxville capped a 12-0 season with a 42-25 victory over Chenango Forks in the NYSPHSAA Class C football championship game Saturday at the JMA Wireless Dome.

It was the Broncos’ 10^th consecutive game scoring 40 or more points and marked the program’s first state championship since 2010.

Formato, who carried 27 times for 231 yards, scored on carries of 41, 84, and 8 yards. He also caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from Theo McMurray.

Bronxville, ranked second in Class C by the New York State Sportswriters Association, went to the locker room with a 28-7 lead after a first half filled with big plays, starting with senior Formato’s 41-yard carry to the end zone untouched around the right side on a fourth-and-1 snap just 2:00 into the contest.

Bronxville upped the lead to 14-0 on its next possession, driving 12 plays and 60 yards, capped by McMurray’s 21-yard throw to Desi Heathwood over a defender in the back left corner of the end zone with :37 to go in the first quarter.

However, that was not close to being the last of the action in the opening 12 minutes.

On the first play following the kickoff, the Broncos’ Brady Dolan took down running back Tate Bender and forced a fumble that senior Walker Moore scooped up and returned 19 yards for a touchdown and 21-0 lead.

Moments later, Forks made it three offensive plays in a row finishing in the end zone. This time, the Section 4 champions struck on a 64-yard play as Bender connected with Conner Duggan on a halfback option with :12 left on the clock.

It looked as though Forks had avoided a knockout blow late in the second quarter as Duggan picked off a fourth-down throw to the end zone by McMurray (6 of 8, 123 yards). The relief did not last, however.

On the 10^th play of what was becoming a momentum-shifting drive, Bronxville’s Formato jumped on the ball at the Broncos’ 30-yard line after a second-down handoff didn’t connect.

Two plays later, McMurray hit Thomas Freeman for 35 yards over a Forks defender, and one play after that the quarterback threw a screen to the right side to Formato, who bounced off a defender at the 15 and sailed into the end zone for a back-breaking TD and 28-7 lead.

Sam Paske (13 of 21, 224 yards) threw 11 yards to Bender for a score on Forks’ first possession to open the third quarter, cutting the deficit to 28-13, but Formato ripped off his 84-yard scoring run up the middle with 10:12 remaining in the game to make the score 35-13.

Chenango Forks, a six-time NYSPHSAA champion and top-ranked by the NYSSWA finished 12-1.